Destiny Rewritten
by shb22
Summary: PRTF. A sequel to A Legacy Rewritten. Everyone returns to the future, but the adventure is just beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**Destiny Rewritten**

"What do you mean you caught the microwave on fire?" Jen half yelled, half laughed into her cell phone.

"I don't know. I was making a baked potato and it just kind of went up in flames." Her sister, Jessie, replied on the other end.

"Please tell me that you took it out of the aluminum foil first." Jen begged her.

There was a long silence followed by, "Well, not exactly."

"Jess, you can't microwave aluminum foil! It's aluminum, as in metal. You don't put metal anywhere near the microwave." Jen groaned. "I swear, as smart as you are, I really wonder about you sometimes. You greatly lack in the common sense department."

"I resent that!" Jessie said.

"Now, honey, do I need to come and take away all of the sharp knives so that you don't hurt yourself?"

Jen and Wes had bought a house not long after they had returned back from the past and had been married. It took some persuading, but they convinced Admiral Logan to let him come back with them. After all, he was the one who saved the future.

"You know what? You can kiss my butt!" Jessie told her, half laughing.

"I would if I could find it." Jen joked.

Jessie gasped into the phone. "I am so hanging up on you for that."

"I was kidding." Jen laughed. "Did you do any damage?"

"No, I caught it in time." Jess replied.

"Good. Still, I worry about you being there by yourself." Jen explained.

"Jen, really, I'm fine. And besides, it's not like I can't kick almost anyone's ass that walks through that door." Jessie bit into her apple. She had decided to choose something else that didn't require much preparation for her snack.

"That's true, but you're my little sister. I worry. It's what I do." Jen said.

"Yeah, yeah." Jessie shrugged.

Jessie was one of the strongest and most skilled fighters in Time Force. Being the leader of the Academy, she should be. She lived in the apartment that she and Jen shared by herself now, ever since Jen had moved in with Wes about 3 months ago. She really wasn't alone much though. Blake visited a lot. They had been dating for over a year now, but he had never stayed overnight. They had both agreed on that rule in their relationship.

"Captain Dawson." The crackling voice from headquarters sounded from his COM system.

"Dawson. What's the problem?" Blake asked as he turned the corner onto the next street in his patrol car. His shift had just ended.

"There was an armed robbery at 5th and Kef. They aren't sure if the guy is gone or not." His receiver buzzed slightly as the call was coming through.

"All right, I'm on my way now. Requesting back up." Blake flipped on his lights and adjusted his seat belt, speeding off down the street. It looked like he would be working some overtime tonight.

"They're on their way."

When Blake arrived at the house at 5th and Kef Street, he could see the broken down door and a few pieces of broken furniture inside the doorway. Another officer was escorting the family across the street to a patrol car for their safety. Blake grabbed an extra blaster from his cruiser and started for the first responder.

The two men saluted each other.

"Grey, what happened here?" Blake asked.

"The family had gone out for dinner and when they returned home, the door was broken down. They called Time Force and when I got here, he shot at me a few times." The tall, thin lieutenant reported.

"Did you see him leave the house yet?" Blake asked him.

"No, sir." Grey replied.

"Okay, keep a check on the perimeter. When my back-up gets here, brief them and then tell them to wait on my signal." Blake gave him his orders and then started for the house.

His boots crunched on the gravel ground as he drew his blaster and approached the darkness of the foyer. His senses were on high alert as he stepped up and into the doorway. Surveying his surroundings, he gave the foyer the all clear and made his way into the living room. His blaster leading the way, he saw nothing there either. He reached the kitchen next and saw a shadow slip into the next room.

"Freeze! Time Force! You're under arrest!" Blake shouted.

The figure kept moving and Blake went after him. He dodged a shot that was sent at him and fired one of his own back at him. It hit its mark on his back, but it didn't seem to phase him. When he reached the other end of the house, he stopped and turned to face Blake. It was clear that it was a mutant.

Blake came to a halt about fifteen feet from him, his blaster still locked on the mutant. "I'll tell you again, Time Force! You are under arrest!"

"That's what you think!" The mutant said and charged him.

Blake fired three shots. They all hit their mark, however the mutant just kept coming. Blake blocked a hit and placed a kick into his side, the mutant crumpled slightly and counter punched Blake in the stomach. Blake took the shot and tried to punch the mutant in the chest, but he anticipated this and grabbed his fist in mid-air. The mutant flipped Blake in a somersault and the captain landed on his back with a thud. He rolled out of the way just as the mutant brought his foot down to pin him. The mutant fired at Blake and hit him in the shoulder. He gasped with pain and fired at the mutant's face. It hit and it took the mutant aback. Blake saw his opportunity and threw several punches and kicks at him. The mutant struck him back in the ribs and threw Blake back a bit. Blake charged him again. There were punches and kicks flying from both sides, but Blake finally found his weak spot and sent him crashing to the ground. He jumped on top of him and pinned his hands behind his back and began to cuff him.

"Move in." He called into his headset and within a matter of seconds there were three officers at his side.

"C'mon, move it." They yelled to the struggling mutant as they led him outside.

Blake took a minute to gather himself and took a look at the damage that had been done, then he continued out the door as well. He was greeted by a dark night filled with the lights and sounds of Time Force. The mutant was being put in the patrol car and a few of the officers were talking to the family. He saw another patrol car pull up and the driver get out. Blake smiled as he saw Jessie come rushing up to him. She hugged him.

"I heard the call." She said when they separated. "Are you okay? You're bleeding."

Jessie was a little on edge with armed robberies. He didn't blame her though, he would be too if that was how his parents had been killed.

Blake saw his shoulder. The blaster had left a gash, but nothing serious.

"It's nothing, I'll be fine." He assured her.

Morning dawned bright and early the next day, too early. The alarm clock beeped, pulling Wes out of his dreams. He rolled over and hit the snooze button; the face of the clock read 5:24 a.m. Wes pulled the covers over his head and tried to go back to sleep. He felt Jen pull the covers off of his face and kiss him.

"C'mon Wes, get up." She smiled.

"No…" He groaned. "It's too early."

"Maybe you shouldn't have stayed up so late last night." Jen grinned at him.

"Yeah, well…wait a minute." Wes looked at her. "How come you're not tired?"

"Because, I don't sleep in until 10 on the weekends. I'm used to getting up at this time." Jen kissed him again and got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

"But it's dark outside. That's a crime. No one should have to get up until the sun is up at least." Wes heard Jen turn on the shower.

"You have to be up early anyway." Jen's voice was a little muffled from the flow of water. "It's Commencement Day at the Academy. Didn't you say that you wanted to stop by there?"

"Yeah." Wes replied.

It was quiet for a little while after that and Jen figured that Wes had gone back to sleep.

"Wes, get up!" Jen shouted from the bathroom. She didn't hear the bathroom door open.

All of a sudden, Jen screamed as she felt an icy cold blast of water come from nowhere. She heard Wes laughing and saw him crouched down on the floor. He had filled a cup full of ice water and dumped it over the top of the shower onto his wife.

"Wesley Collins! I am going to kill you!" Jen poked her head around the door of the shower and Wes fell over onto his side laughing.

"I'm sorry, Jen. I couldn't help it." He said in between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, I bet you're sorry." Jen splashed him. "That's the third time you've done that this week!"

Jessie had arrived at the Academy an hour earlier than usual so that she could make sure that everything was set up for the day. Today was Commencement Day, the day when the Academy took in around 35 or so new students. Jessie would lecture them about the importance of Time Force and what they do. She would then put them through a physical test to determine their training schedules and then they would go through a skills test to figure out what their strengths and weaknesses were. She would then make up their classes and pick out her group of elite students. She loved this day and hated it too. She had to get the students to mind her and it usually wasn't a problem, but there were always those few who gave her problems.

Wes had been working all day with paperwork and other office work, which definitely wasn't his favorite part of his job. He had already done his patrol early that morning so that he could have the afternoon to stop by and see the new kids that Jessie got this year. He laughed. He remembered when he had come back to the future; Admiral Logan made him go through the Academy. Logan had told him that everyone in Time Force had to go through that Academy and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. He did have to hand it to Jessie though; she was a tough teacher. It didn't matter to her that he was a ranger; she treated him just like everyone else. It was kind of embarrassing to him, being the only person that old. Most of the students were around the ages of 16 or 17 and depending on their abilities and skill level, they would graduate anywhere from 1 to 4 years. He only had to stay there for about a month, but he had to have that certificate before Admiral Logan would assign him to Captain status and let him continue as a ranger.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 4 p.m. 'Dang it.' He thought. 'I'm going to miss them.'

Wes locked up his office and hurried down the hall to the elevator. He had to go down to the 11th floor and catch the connecting tram that would take him over to the Academy. There was no way that he would make it in 5 minutes.

Jessie smiled. It had been a successful day. She had gotten everyone through their tests and placed them all where they needed to be. No one failed the physical test either, so she didn't have to refer anyone for a year; she hated having to do that. She surveyed the room. All of the weapons that she had the students practicing with were lying all over the floor. She had told the students to go to their dormitories early and get some sleep. They would be sore enough tomorrow without having to stay later and help her pick up everything. Jessie began tossing bow staffs and nun chucks into separate piles so that she could store them properly in the weapons closet. The regular students only used bows and nun chucks; she saved the other, more dangerous weapons for her elite students. They used things like the chain whip or the quarterstaff, very rarely would she let them practice with actual sabers. Those were saved for demonstrations mostly.

"Do you need a hand?" Wes asked coming through the door into the familiar training room.

"Hey, Wes. Sure, if you don't mind." Jessie smiled.

"No problem." He bent down and tossed a nun chunk into the pile. "I was actually hoping to see some of the new kids in action."

"I let them go early. I worked them pretty hard today." Jessie replied flipping a bow up with her foot and catching it with her hand.

"I remember. I thought I was in good shape until I made it in here. You kicked my butt." Wes laughed.

Jessie did too. "Hey, it's my job."

"I bet I could beat you now though." Wes dared.

Jessie laughed harder. "I highly doubt that Wes. You may be older and bigger than me, but I overshadow you in experience and skill."

"Is that a challenge?" Wes asked playfully.

"I tell you what, I'll even be nice and let you pick your own weapon." Jessie picked up another bow staff.

Blake and Jen had walked in a few minutes before and took a seat in the bleachers when they heard the trash-talking between the two family members.

"This is going to be good." Jen smirked.

"Wes is so going down." Blake laughed.

"Oh, I know. He doesn't know what he's getting into. Especially, fighting her with a bow staff. She mastered that in about three days." Jen said.

Wes lined up opposite Jessie on the mat in the center of the room. He spun his bow around once in his hands. Jessie laughed and took off her jacket, leaving a tight fitting, long sleeved black shirt behind.

Wes made the first move, charging at Jessie. She easily counter attacked him and knocked him in the ribs. Wes stumbled back, a little winded.

"Are you still sure that you want to do this?" Jessie asked coolly.

"You bet." Wes charged her again, spinning he caught the back of her knee, knocking her down. He smiled proudly, but was then quickly knocked down by Jessie's bow. The battle was on. They flew at each other, bows hitting hard.

"C'mon Wes!" Blake shouted.

"Kick his butt Jess!" Jen yelled.

Jessie whipped her bow around and caught Wes in the back sending him a few feet forward. He retaliated by swiping at her head. Jessie ducked and took out Wes's feet—he landed hard on the ground with a thud. Jen and Blake cheered at the unsurprising outcome and met them on the mat.

Jen helped Wes off of the ground.

"Ouch…" He held his butt as he rose to his feet.

"Honey," Jen was trying to hold back her laughter. "I told you never to pick a fight with someone that you couldn't handle."

"Good try, Wes." Jessie shook his hand.

Jessie tossed her bow back into the pile and walked over to Blake.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. I've got something I want to show you." Blake told her.

"I can't. I've got to get all of this cleaned up." She replied.

"We'll get it for you, Jess. Go on." Jen told her, picking up Wes's bow from the ground.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Wes replied.

"No, Jen, it's okay. I'll finish up here, then we'll go." Jessie said.

Jen smacked her in the butt with the bow she held in her hands.

"I said go! We got it. Besides, wasn't that always the rule when we were here, loser cleans up?" Jen smiled.

"Yeah, I guess." Jessie replied.

"Thanks guys." Blake chimed in and took Jessie by the hand.

When they had left, Jen smiled at Wes.

"Way to go babe, the plan's working so far." Jen hugged him.

"Yeah, but the sad part was, I didn't let her beat me. She actually did kick my butt." Wes said.

"Well, I could've told you that was going to happen." Jen laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Blake and Jessie left the Academy and walked down towards the river. The sun was starting it's descent in the sky and it felt good as it warmed their skin; it was beginning to get chilly now that winter had started to set in.

"How was your day?" Blake asked her.

"It was good actually, everyone did well. I was surprised." Jessie replied. "I'm going to have a handful this year."

"You'll handle them just fine, you always do." Blake smiled and stared at his feet.

They continued their walk past the river and into downtown. The sun had set and the air whipped around them, sending shivers down Jessie's body. She pulled on her long, black coat that she had grabbed on their way out and buttoned it. She also pulled out her loose ponytail and shook and fluffed her hair.

Blake stopped and smiled.

"What?" Jessie looked at him, smiling but puzzled.

"You are the only person that I know who can look this amazing after a 5 hour training session." He laughed.

"Well, it is an art form, you know." Jessie replied playfully.

She smiled as she looked at Blake—his windblown brown hair and his hands in his pockets. 'He is so adorable.' She thought to herself.

"What's going on with you?" Jess asked him.  
"Me?" Blake answered. "Nothing, I'm just a little nervous I guess."

"Why?" Jessie slipped her hand in his.

"No reason." Blake squeezed her hand lightly and gave her a nervous smile.

She gave him a look and laughed. "I wonder about you sometimes, you know that?"

"Oh, don't lie. That's why you love me so much." He said.

"Oh is that it?" She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer to her, the smoke from their breath disappearing in the night air. "I thought it was your charming sense of modesty."

"That too." He laughed and kissed her.

"I can't take it anymore! Why haven't they called yet?" Jen never was good with anticipation, especially with something like this.

"Jen," Wes grabbed her and sat her down on the couch. "Stop pacing, you're making me tired. They'll call, I can assure you. There may have been some problems that he has to fix. Just breathe, sit on the couch, and relax."

"Easy for you to say." Jen narrowed her eyes.

Blake and Jess had spent a few hours just walking around downtown and enjoying themselves; Blake had been fidgety all night — Jess knew that something was up.

"What is the matter with you?" Jess asked him again.

"I told you, nothing is wrong. I promise." Blake smiled.

"Are you sure? You've been acting off all night." Jess was determined to get it out of him.

"Yes. Would I lie to you?" Blake was serious.

She didn't say anything for a minute, trying to read him. Finally, she backed down and gave up.

"No, you wouldn't." She replied. "You never have."

Blake put his arm around her as they walked up to a sidewalk stand that was selling flowers.

"My, my look at the two of you." The saleslady exclaimed. "I remember what it was like to be young and in love."

Jessie blushed and looked at her feet.

"Thanks." Blake said.

"You know, you look like you could use some flowers honey, what would you like? It's on the house." She smiled.

"Oh, I couldn't." Jessie replied.

"Don't be silly, dear." The older woman turned around and pulled out a beautiful white rose, tipped in pink.

"It's gorgeous." Jessie took it from the woman and leaned down to smell it. As she pulled away, she noticed a small glint in the center of the folded petals.

"What is…" Jessie reached her fingers into the bud and pulled out a white gold diamond ring.

Jessie's eyes widened as she realized what she was holding. She looked at Blake and her mouth dropped. She was speechless.

"Jessica Marie," Blake bent down to one knee. "Ever since that day at the beach, I knew I loved you. You're everything I could've ever dreamed I wanted and more. You're an amazing person and I have no idea what I'd do without you, and I don't ever want to find out."

Jessie had her hands over her mouth and tears gleaming in her eyes.

"I love you more than I could've ever imagined, so I ask if you'll do me the honor of marrying me."

Jessie could only stare at him in disbelief, tears falling freely down her face now.

"Honey, are you going to answer him?" The saleslady whispered in Jessie's ear.

That snapped her back to reality.

"Blake," she sniffed. "I, I don't know what to say."

Blake was so nervous he was beginning to get pale. "Jess,"

"Yes, yes." She replied quickly and wiped her eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Blake smiled the biggest smile that Jessie had ever seen and picked her up off of the ground and kissed her.

"So this is what you were so nervous about." Jessie laughed, her arms still around Blake's neck.

Blake couldn't stop smiling as his slipped the ring onto Jessie's finger. "You're mine. Forever."

Back at the Collin's house, emotions were starting to escalate and tension was building for Jen. She was sitting in the kitchen organizing cookbooks.

"Jen," A sleepy Wes leaned against the doorframe. "It's almost midnight, what are you doing?"

"I'm organizing. It's what I do when I get anxious." She said matter-of-factly.

"Come to bed. Maybe he chickened out." Wes replied.

"I highly doubt that. He's been planning this for months." She put three books on the shelf.

"Well, maybe, they went home afterwards and-" Wes started.

"No!" Jen interrupted him. "She may be 22 but she's still my little sister and I don't want to think of her doing that."

"Like you haven't." He smiled.

"That's different. Would you want that mental image of your little sister?" Jen said.

"I don't have a sister." Wes replied.

"Work with me here!" Jen shot him a look.

"Blake," Jessie breathed. "Babe, we should stop."

"No, let's not." Blake, who was kissing Jessie's neck, groaned.

She closed her eyes and almost gave in, but stopped herself.

Pulling away, she said, "If you keep kissing me, then I won't be able to control myself."

"That's a good thing, you should go with that." Blake replied.

Jessie smiled. "We've already had this discussion, you know how I feel about this."

Blake groaned. "Why do you have to be so perfect?"

"I promise, it'll be worth it." She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. She gazed into his eyes before giving him a short, teasing kiss.

"I love you so much." She whispered.

"I love you, too." Blake hugged her. "We'll wait, even if it does kill me."

"Thank you." She followed him to the door of her apartment.

"Just you wait, Jessie Marie. Once I get you all to myself, I'm never going to let you go." Blake kissed her on the cheek and went to his car, shutting the door behind him.

Jessie couldn't stop smiling. She leaned against the door and looked at her ring.

"Mrs. Jessica Dawson," She liked how that sounded.

Glancing at the clock, she reached for her phone.

Jen had finished organizing everything in the kitchen with labels; Wes had given up trying to get her to come to bed. She was now sitting on the barstool staring at the phone, willing it to ring.

"I'm going to kill her." She said to herself.

As if on cue, the phone began to ring. Jen lunged for the receiver and grabbed it on the first ring.

"Hello?" Jen said quickly.

"Well, that was quick. Were you waiting for me to call?" Jessie asked.

"Yes, I was. What took you so long?"

"So I take it you knew?" Jessie smiled.

"Of course, did you really think I would let Blake pick out a ring on his own?" Jen laughed.

"It's beautiful, I love it." Jessie moved the sparkling diamond in the light.

"I'm so happy for you Jessie. He's perfect for you." Jen told her.

"I love him." Jessie replied.

"He's crazy about you." Jen replied.

"I can't believe that I'm getting married!" Jessie squealed.

"I can't believe it either, it seems like just yesterday I was taking you to junior high." Jen said.

"Ugh, let's not go back there please." Jess laughed. "Now go to bed, I know you've been up all night."

"Never." Jen replied.

"Yeah, sure."

"Goodnight, Jess." Jen smirked. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, love you." Jessie said.

"Love you too." Jen hung up the phone.

The only sound that filled Jen's ears was the high-pitched screeching of her pager. It felt like she had just gotten to sleep. She tried to ignore the awful sound at first but soon realized that it wasn't her alarm clock. She sat straight up and grabbed the silver and black box from her nightstand. It was 3 a.m. What could possibly be going on?

Jen stared quixotically at the blue light of the screen as she silenced the shrill sound.

"What is it?" Wes yawned, propping up on his elbow.

Just before Jen could answer, Wes's pager lit up and resumed the shrieking.

"It's a 911." Jen said jumping out of bed and grabbing her uniform.

Wes began to follow suit, however at a much slower pace.

"Has this ever happened before? It's 3 a.m.?" Wes asked pulling on his pants.

"Once," Jen replied sweeping her hair up into a ponytail. "When Ransik escaped prison."

Wes stopped and looked at her as the gravity of the situation hit him.

The night sky was starless and cloudy, much like the mind of Admiral Robert Logan. He was pacing in the Conference Room at Headquarters, stopping once in a while to stare out the window into a dimly lit city. There were so many thoughts fighting for space in his head that he did not hear the door open behind him.

"Rob?" Jessie said pulling him from his thoughts.

He turned quickly, surprised that he had been caught off guard. "Jess, it's just you."

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"I'm afraid not." He replied with an extremely serious tone that she hadn't heard in a long time.

The door opened again and Blake came through, followed by Jen and Wes.

They all lined up in front of him in a respective stance.

"This isn't the time for formalities," Logan explained.

The four rangers relaxed and looked at one another, wondering what could've possibly happened to make the Admiral so concerned.

"Has anyone ever heard of Venomax?" He began to brief the rangers.

No one noticed that Jen and Jessie stiffened at the mention of the name. There was a short pause but then Blake spoke up.

"He was a snake-like mutant that was known mainly for minor offenses such as break-ins and robberies, until he stumbled upon experimental technology that super charged his body, mind, and gave him unheard of power." He profiled the mutant.

"That's right." Admiral Logan replied.

"But sir, he was captured and detained almost 20 years ago. He shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"Apparently, we overlooked one crucial factor. Before vamping his power, he was part human. No one at Time Force was aware of this detail. His cryogenic detainment was set for a mutant. Because of this, he was able to shake off the freeze; it took a long time but he was able to do it."

"And now he's escaped?" Wes finished.

"Exactly," Admiral Logan's age was unmistakable in the minimal, dull light penetrating through the window behind him. "Venomax was the most notorious criminal in Time Force history before Ransik. He is highly dangerous and on the loose with a vengeance to rival anything Time Force has ever seen. He must be treated with extreme caution. Not only does he have immense power, but he possesses venom that when injected into his victim will usher in the slowest and most painful death that anyone could ever imagine. Rangers, we must bring him down at all costs. We have already lost too many of our numbers to his wrath."

The men nodded and the women clenched their jaws tightly.

"What do we do? Just wait for him to attack?" Wes asked.

"He is flying under every radar that we own. No one can track him if he doesn't want to be found. We can do nothing else. I need you four to go to the prison and examine the scene; see if you can get any clues or hunches. Take notes, you'll need all the help against him that you can get."

"I can't believe he has escaped." Blake broke the silence on the ride to the prison. "He was the most high profile mutant on file; there were guards everywhere. How could we have not noticed that there was human DNA in his molecular composition? We are Time Force—the best of the best. He killed hundreds of innocent people and double the officers-"

"Yeah, we get it." Jessie snapped at him. "We just need to do what we came here for."

Blake was taken aback by the sudden mood change in his fiancé.

Jessie had climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Blake was stunned and utterly confused. Jen had been sitting close to Wes looking unusually bothered. She opened the door and went after Jess.

Blake was speechless.

Wes sighed. "Look man, you really need to talk to her. Don't let this one just go. Be understanding and sympathetic about it; she's going to need you, now more than ever."

Wes exited the car as well, leaving Blake to himself, stunned and confused.

"Jess," Jen was moving at a swift walk to catch her sister who was several steps ahead of them. She kept on walking, ignoring the calls from her sister. Only when Jen caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder did she finally face her.

"What are you crazy?" Jen asked. "You can't just go barging into a situation like this by yourself."

Jessie was silent and looked at the ground. It was still extremely dark outside and Jen couldn't see her face, but she didn't have to.

"Look, I just want to get this over with." Jessie's voice dropped and she looked away from her sister.

"So do I." Jen sighed. "But please, promise me that you won't do anything rash. You're all the family I've got; I can't loose you, too."

"I'm not going anywhere and Venomax better hope that we don't cross paths." Jessie's voice was hard and bitter.

"Jessica," Jen warned, but was interrupted by the guys coming up behind them.

"Jess," Blake started, but Jessie turned and walked away before anything else could be said.

They walked through the demolished doors that were just hanging on by a thread; it looked like a war zone inside the prison. The once clean, crisp silver interior was ripped and shredded. There were parts from control panels and other various mechanical pieces lying strewn about the floor.

"Whoa, it doesn't even look like the prison." Blake was in awe.

The team split up around the room, trying to find anything to their advantage and trying to clean up as best they could. Nothing was salvageable or left untouched by the mutant.

"Well he sure knows how to make an appearance doesn't he?" Wes joked half-heartedly.

Blake went over to where Jessie was moving cords and metal off of some control panels.

"Need some help?" He was unsure of what to say.

"If you want," Jessie replied without much enthusiasm.

"Jess," Blake shifted his feet nervously. He never dealt with their fights well. "About earlier-"

"Not now." Jessie sounded so frustrated. She stopped clearing off the panel and began to pull back the door to the containment chamber. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you like that. I just-" Jessie's answer was cut short by a blood-curling scream as she saw what was behind the door.

Jen and Wes both dropped what they were doing when they heard Jessie's scream and ran over to find her in Blake's arms, her head buried in his neck.

"What happened?" Jen asked.

"I don't know," He said holding onto Jessie, who was visibly shaking and holding onto him for dear life. "She just opened the door and the next thing I knew, she was in my arms."

Wes stepped in front of the two of them and peaked around the door before pulling it wide open. Inside was the source of what had made Jessie scream, hundreds of snakes were slithering over each other lying in a heap all over the floor of the containment chamber.

Jessie heard them hiss and clutched to Blake tighter and whimpered.

"My god," Wes whispered half in disgust, half in amazement.

"He wanted us to know he was here." Jen explained, examining them a little closer. "He's taunting us."

"Can we shut the door back please?" Blake requested with a rather strained voice. "She's squeezing me so hard, I can't breathe."

Wes slid the door shut and Jessie's face emerged from its hiding place in Blake's neck. There was pure fear on her face and it looked like she was going to cry. She had gone completely pale.

Jen walked over to her little sister and smoothed her hair and pulled her into a hug.

"You okay?" She asked.

Jessie sighed and relaxed a little bit. "Just get me out of here."

She pulled away and they walked outside to get some fresh air. Wes and Blake followed behind them.

"What was that about?" Wes whispered to Jen, out of Jessie's earshot for fear of making her more emotional.

"She's terrified of snakes." Jen was watching Blake trying to calm her sister down. "When Venomax attacked us, Jess was just a toddler; he tried to suffocate her with them to keep her quiet so that he could rob the house. Luckily, dad was up and got there in time to save her."

Wes felt for his sister-in-law. "I don't blame her, I'd hate them, too."

"He's playing with us." Jen said, worriedly.


End file.
